In-Depth Post 4

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Since my previous post, many events have occurred. The COVID-19 outbreak has posed a few challenges that have been difficult to work through, but I have found solutions that can keep my in-depth project progressing at the rate I would like it to be. Prior to spring break, I had two meetings with my mentor Nina. During the first meeting, she went over some of the basics of watercolour painting. Nina taught Amin and I about the basics with materials, colour theory, and the different watercolour techniques. Nina would demonstrate the techniques and we would practice after observing her. This worked well because we had time to take in the information and we had sufficient time to ask any questions.

An overview of what I learned in meeting #1:

Basics with materials:

  • Tape paper down because it keeps the paper from moving around or curling. It also creates a clean border for the painting which makes it more visually appealing.
  • White is not used for watercolour painting. Unlike acrylic where you would add white to make a colour a lighter shade, in watercolour you can just add water.
  • Leaving negative space (white spaces) in your painting can be used effectively. For example, you may use negative space to create highlights in your paintings.

Colour Theory:

Color Theory Poster – graf1x.com

Techniques:

  • Wet-in-wet
  • Graduated wash
  • Mixing hues
  • Building values

At the end of our mentoring session, Nina gave us a homework assignment for our next meeting. The assignment was to create a small abstract painting that has 4 layers, each layer for one of the techniques learned. We were to choose and use a specific colour theme so I choose warm colours (pink, orange, and yellow).

Reference Example

 

My Abstract Painting 

Two weeks later, we had our second meeting. First, we discussed the abstract paintings and reflected on what went well and what we could work on. Following that, Nina went over some more basic skills for our lesson. We learned about glazes, wet-on-dry applications, mixing neutrals and flesh tones, and layering. Similar to the first meeting, Nina walked us through and demonstrated the techniques while we would watch and follow along.

These are examples of layering with different shapes:

Nina left us with a few homework/practice assignments to complete over the break. The assignments are painting 3 shapes and a bottle using the layering techniques, a small still life painting with 3 objects, and to take a photo to use for watercolour painting for the next meeting. Through these two meetings, I feel that I have learned so much from Nina and I now have a basic understanding of watercolour painting. Although COVID-19 has presented obstacles for in-depth, looking towards the positive side of this situation, I have had a lot of extra time while social distancing. Taking advantage of all the spare time I’ve spent at home, I have been working on those assignments mentioned earlier and practicing to improve my skills.

1. What has been my most difficult mentoring challenge so far? Why?

The most difficult mentoring challenge I have come across so far has been meeting with my mentor. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, schools will remain closed until further notice and the meetings we had set up were all during school hours. Although this may be an obstacle to my learning, there are ways around it. This has been the most difficult challenge to deal with because we had all our meetings outlined with what we were going to learn during each one so our learning will have to take a different direction. We will have to find a way to work around this and to meet with Nina. To make up for the meetings that will be missed, we found that it would be a good idea to set up group video conferences between Nina, Amin, and I. That way, we can still learn, just at home, and we still have the ability to ask questions and receive feedback on our progress.

2. What is working well? Why?

Something that is working well is the structure and flow of our mentor meetings. Since our meetings are short in length, it is very important that we know what we want to accomplish for each meeting so we can continue to grow and improve and make the most out of each meeting. I feel that this has worked very well because we planned what each meeting would look like by creating an outline before the first meeting took place. This is especially helpful now, due to the fact that there most likely will not be any more meetings face-to-face. The outline has also been useful because I can look back on it as a reminder of what concepts we have gone over, and I can look ahead for what is to come during the next meetings.

3. What could be working better? How can you make sure this happens?

Something that could be working better for my in-depth project is communication with my mentor outside of the meetings. I have realized that since our last meeting, I have not contacted my mentor many times. As stated earlier, setting up frequent video conferences would strengthen the communication between my mentor and I. To make sure to improve on communication, I will make an effort to message Nina every week to update her on my progress, ask questions as needed, and discuss what our plan will be going forward. Strengthening our communication outside of the bi-weekly meetings will not only be useful to my growth in watercolour painting, but it will also strengthen my relationship with Nina.

Overall, I am satisfied with the progress I have made over the past few weeks and I am looking forward to learning more and improving as my in-depth journey continues. Stay safe and stay tuned for more updates.

In-Depth Post 3

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It has been a long and challenging process, but I now have a mentor for my in-depth project! She is a grade 12 student who is doing an independent study with Ms. Croft. Her name is Nina and I met with her on Thursday with Amin. Nina has been interested in watercolour painting from a very young age and has been watercolour painting since grade 1, but started taking lessons in grade 10. During the meeting, we went over how the next few months would look like and what the overall plan was. Amin and I talked about what we are hoping to get out of this experience and discussed questions Nina or Amin and I had. We also outlined the mentoring sessions and Ms. Croft and Nina explained that Nina could teach a lesson in each meeting. She could demonstrate the techniques and we would work on it during the session and ask her any questions we may have. Then we would practice during the time before the next meeting and maybe have some homework to complete. Nina seems like a very kind and dedicated person and we are very grateful and excited to work with her for the next few months. Regarding the paperwork, we are hoping to hand in the forms early next week.

Amin and I will be having bi-weekly mentoring sessions with Nina on Thursdays. We have reviewed the schedule, and there will be six more meetings in total. Each session will be 40 minutes as we will be meeting at lunchtime. This is what works best for us as Nina is a very busy person and Amin and I also have extracurriculars and sports after school. We will be communicating with Nina via Instagram direct messages and in-person as she is a student at Gleneagle. We will also be meeting in the art room because it has watercolour supplies and equipment if needed, and access to a sink. It is also a good working environment as it is quiet and organized.

  1. What went particularly well during your mentoring sessions?

We have only had one session so far because I had a hard time finding a mentor, but I think the first meeting went very well. One thing that went particularly well was communication. Although it was a short meeting, we managed to cover all of the areas we wanted to, and planned the rest of our meetings. We all asked and answered important questions we had and made sure to be open while communicating our thoughts and ideas. Nina seems like a very understanding and kind-hearted person, and I feel that it was an additional positive to our mentoring session.

  1. Were you actually listening to each other? Explain

During our introduction meeting, Nina, Ms. Croft, Amin and I all provided ideas and actively listened to each other. I made sure I asked any clarification questions I had and also made sure that Nina and Ms. Croft were clear with what our plan was. We all thoroughly discussed our ideas and presented our questions and gave answers. All of us actively participated in the discussion and made sure we were all on the same page. Strong communication and active listening ensured that everyone understood what was going on and would not need further clarification.

  1. What logical challenges affected your communication?

At first, I didn’t have Nina’s contact information, so I was emailing and talking to Ms. Croft in person to relay information. This was not an effective way of communicating because it is a lot slower than communicating one-on-one. Then, I got Nina’s email and we communicated from there. Although that improved our communication, it still wasn’t ideal because it was inconvenient to send an email every time you had a question or something to say. At the first meeting, we decided that direct messages on Instagram would be an effective way of communication because we all had it and used it daily. Now I can text Nina when there is a question or something that needs to be talked about comes up.

Finding a mentor was the biggest obstacle to overcome so far but I know there will be many more throughout my in-depth journey. Our next mentoring session is set for Thursday next week. I am looking forward to learning a lot from Nina and excited to see how it goes! From now until Thursday, I will be communicating with Nina about the paperwork and anything else that comes up. I also plan on purchasing supplies this weekend so I can start practicing the various techniques I have been looking at. I have read about the basics of watercolour painting and will continue to research and learn new things from online resources because I would like to move forward in my in-depth journey.

I am excited for next Thursday and more updates to follow.

In-Depth Post 2

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Finding a mentor has been a big obstacle so far. I have reached out to possible mentors but unfortunately have not been successful in finding one. Amin is also pursuing watercolour painting as his in-depth so we discussed possibly sharing a mentor since it is convenient and we both have the same skill level.

A few days ago, Amin and I reached out in person to Ms. Croft who is an art teacher at Gleneagle. Unfortunately, due to her busy schedule this year, she informed us that she could not mentor us. On the bright side, she told us that she might have someone she could reach out to. We communicated with her via email and in-person and Ms. Croft informed us that she has a talented watercolour painter who is a grade 12 student doing an independent study with her this semester. We are very excited about this and are hoping that she will agree to mentor us. Currently, we are waiting for a response from her student as she needs some time to think about it. Fingers crossed that this works out!

In the meantime, I have been doing some research on watercolour painting. Although I currently do not have a mentor, I thought I should get a head start on my learning through videos and other online resources. I have learned about a few techniques such as wet in wet, wet on dry, flat wash, graded wash, and drybrush. I have also done some research on watercolour painting supplies. I have not gotten a chance to buy supplies yet, but that is something I would like to accomplish very soon because it would be great to practice the techniques I am learning about.

Here are a few videos I have watched to kickstart my in-depth project:

I have also created a schedule for in-depth, outlining certain tasks and projects I want to be working on. I have collected some resources that are helpful for beginner watercolour painting and took some notes on them.

I am hoping that the mentor situation will work out soon and I can officially start meeting with a mentor. Until then, I will continue to do independent learning because I still want to gain knowledge and move forward with my in-depth project without a mentor. More updates to come!

My Independent Novel Study

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My Independent Novel Study

Turtles All the Way Down – Independent Novel Study

This assignment was an independent novel study. I was required to pick a novel of my choice, read it independently in class and in my own time, and lastly write a multi-paragraph response to the novel. I wrote about three separate scenes, a character appraisal, personal connections I had with the story, themes highlighted throughout the novel, and gave it a star rating.

A pre-existing skill I was able to utilize in this assignment was analyzing and critiquing text. This was helpful because I was able to pick out details from the novel and put my ideas down onto paper. Another skill was the ability to generate ideas and create meaningful connections to pieces of literature. A large portion of this assignment required presenting your thoughts and voicing connections you had with characters in the novel.

A challenge I faced when completing this assignment was choosing a novel. I had a hard time because you had to pick something you had not read before and I didn’t want to commit to a novel that I wasn’t going to enjoy. Another challenge I faced was finding time to read. I do not frequently read books in my free time and there was always other homework and projects to complete, so I pushed reading outside of class to the side.

In-Depth Post 1

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For my in-depth project this year, I have decided to explore watercolour painting. I chose this topic because it is something I have always been interested in, but never had the opportunity to pursue. I pondered many ideas but I ultimately chose watercolour painting because it is portable and can be done practically anywhere, it requires minimal supplies, and it seems like an enjoyable passion that I hope to continue after in-depth 2020. I would say my present skill-level is beginner, but I hope to change that throughout my learning journey.

From now until in-depth night on May 25th, there is a lot I want to learn and accomplish. I would like to learn watercolour techniques and strengthen my skills. Specific skills I would like to attain are how to properly mix colours, blending, and correct application. By the end of in-depth, I hope to have gained extensive knowledge on various aspects of watercolour painting. By pushing myself out of my comfort zone and challenging myself, I would like to experience roadblocks and struggles because that is what will motivate me towards success. My goal is to see a vast improvement from my skills right now to the end of this journey.

I have contacted a possible mentor but currently have not heard back from them. I hope to volunteer at Place des Arts in return for mentoring sessions. I would like to meet with my mentor every two weeks (more if needed) to discuss what I’ve learned, what I plan to do, and how my mentor can help me get there. If this plan does not comply, there are a few other options I can look into such as other art centres or art classes. I will do my best to find a mentor as quickly as possible as I would like to get a good start on my project.

My plan after I find a mentor is to decide what supplies I would like to purchase by discussing with my mentor and doing some research online. In the meantime, I will create a schedule for myself to keep me on track and find various resources to help me grow and learn during in-depth. My hope by the end of this is to have gained a hobby that I enjoy and will continue following in-depth.

I am very excited and look forward to seeing where I will take this project!

Annotated Bibliography

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Annotated Bibliography

Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. Oprah Talks to Maya Angelou Oprah Winfrey. December 2000. Website. <http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/oprah-interviews-maya-angelou/2>.

 

Editors, Biography.com. Oprah Winfrey Biography. 2 April 2014. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.biography.com/media-figure/oprah-winfrey>.

This webpage provides an overview of Oprah’s life. It gives you a further understanding of her childhood and her story, and it is a great starting point for preliminary research. This site mentions her career timeline, relationship with family members, and many achievements. I credit this website for pushing me to select Oprah Winfrey as my eminent person.

 

Encyclopedia of World Biography. Oprah Winfrey Biography. n.d. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/Winfrey-Oprah.html>.

 

Fry, Elizabeth. A Child Biography of Oprah Winfrey. 22 August 2019. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.liveabout.com/childhood-biography-of-oprah-winfrey-2535832>.

 

Goalcast. Top 20 Inspiring Oprah WInfrey Quotes That Will Enpower You. 28 September 2016. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.goalcast.com/2016/09/28/top-20-inspiring-oprah-winfrey-quotes-that-will-empower-you/>.

This website has compiled 20 of Oprah Winfrey’s most inspiring and empowering quotes into a list. Oprah Winfrey’s quotes showcase her inner thoughts and highlights her passions and beliefs. By reading through her quotes, I have gained more insight on who she is as a person, and what she hopes to do in the world. Oprah’s quote, “Turn your wounds into wisdom” deeply resonates with her because of all the hardships she has fought through to be where she is today.

 

Haynes, Clarence. Oprah Winfrey: All the Ways the First Black Female Billionaire Has Made History. 24 June 2019. Website. November 15 2019. <https://www.biography.com/news/oprah-winfrey-achievements>.

This website aided in my learning by providing me with Oprah’s greatest accomplishments and achievements. I learned about accomplishments such as her talk show, the leadership academy she created for girls in Africa, and the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award she received. This source focuses on the highlights of Oprah’s career and what resulted from her drive and persistence to succeed.

 

Nelson, Jill. The Man Who Saved Oprah WInfrey. 14 December 1986. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1986/12/14/the-man-who-saved-oprah-winfrey/66d7b7b3-98af-4495-82a7-6b04827f1bd6/>.

 

O, The Oprah Magazine. Building a Dream. January 2007. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.oprah.com/entertainment/building-a-dream>.

This website has an article taken from the O, The Oprah Magazine and it is about Oprah creating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Oprah created this school for girls who don’t have a way to get proper education because they’re living in poverty. Reading this article gave me insight on Oprah as a person, what she envisions, and the change she is driven to make in the world. The text outlines the whole process, from planning, building and construction, to Oprah meeting the young girls that she has inspired and given opportunity to.

 

Winfrey, Oprah. How Nelson Mandela Inspired Me To Tackle Poverty Clare O’Connor. 20 September 2017. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2017/09/20/oprah-winfrey-nelson-mandela-school-south-africa-billionaire-education-forbes-centennial/>.

 

—. “Oprah Winfrey’s Life Advice Will Change Your Future.” Spelman College . Atlanta, 22 May 2012. Video. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpx8uNzRdew>.\

The commencement speech Oprah gave at Spelman College showcases the three lessons she believes are the key to real success. Oprah spoke about defining what you want and who you are, finding a way to serve others, and always doing the right thing. The statement “You want to be in the driver’s seat of your own life,” spoke to me and exemplified Oprah’s drive and motivation. This speech contributed to my learning by providing me with more of Oprah’s own words and thoughts and showcasing her wants and fears.

Oprah Winfrey: From Rags to Riches

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“Turn your wounds into wisdom.”
– Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Winfrey) is a talk show host, actress, media executive, billionaire, and philanthropist, born on January 29, 1954, in Mississippi, USA. Best known for hosting her talk show called “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” Oprah is a very influential person who inspires those all around the world.

I was specifically drawn to Oprah Winfrey due to her story. Oprah Winfrey interested me because of her upbringing and how she became the woman she is today. Born into poverty, Oprah came from a difficult childhood; her unmarried parents separated and she grew up with her grandmother, then was sent to live with her mother and two half-brothers in a poor and dangerous neighbourhood, and was repeatedly sexually abused by male relatives and friends of her mother who she thought she trusted. Following that, she was sent to live with her father at 12. This was perhaps the turning point in her childhood and Oprah says her father saved her life. The challenges Oprah has had to overcome, further my interest in learning more about her.

Oprah Winfrey was born into poverty and had a rough upbringing. Although I cannot connect to her in that specific way, we share a similarity of what we want to do in the world. Oprah Winfrey is very influential and inspires many people around the world. Although I may not have the drive to become an actress, talk show host, or television producer, I have a passion for inspiring others and Oprah exemplifies the type of person I strive to become. Oprah Winfrey is passionate about what she does, is extremely hardworking, and has a knack for creativity. I feel that I am hardworking, passionate about my interests, and coming up with new ideas is something I enjoy. Oprah also pushes outside her comfort zone, stays persistent through failure, and has a specific focus. I aspire to emulate Oprah’s determination and selflessness in all she does.

I believe that Oprah exemplifies my goals in TALONS to a large degree as most of her qualities and traits are what I want to work on and get better at doing. This includes staying persistent throughout failure and taking on challenges that come my way, working hard on all my projects and assignments, and pushing outside my comfort zone. Oprah not only exemplifies my goals in TALONS but also the person I want to be outside of an educational standpoint.

Barriers that may cause a block in connecting to Oprah Winfrey includes class, religious faith, and geography. Oprah is a multi-billionaire and very wealthy, and I am privileged and financially stable. Although there is a difference, I don’t feel as it’s a big deal because Oprah had to work hard to become wealthy. I was raised financially stable and in a privileged household while Oprah was born into poverty and in a financially unstable home. There was a point in her life where Oprah was in my situation and this is a key thing to address in my speech. Oprah was raised a Baptist and I am not religious. I live in Canada while Oprah’s main residence is located in California. I don’t believe this poses as a major barrier, because geographically we both live in North America.

Oprah Winfrey uses her position to inspire, educate, and empower people all over the world. Some say she is the most influential woman in the world. Some of her many accomplishments include The Oprah Winfrey Show 1986-2011,  her television network, and countless magazine covers. She has been a talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Oprah is the chairwoman and CEO of Harpo Productions and The Oprah Winfrey Network. Winfrey is featured in TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people list, she has co-authored five books, and she started a school to educate and develop leadership skills for young women in South Africa. From being born into extreme poverty to self-made billionaire, Oprah Winfrey has made a positive impact in this generation and continues to do so. I feel that Oprah will be remembered in 50 years, due to all of her contributions to the world.

Oprah has gone through economic hardship, sexual abuse at a young age, to becoming pregnant at 14 then losing her first child. Most of her challenges and obstacles were faced in her childhood. Oprah also lost two loved ones; her brother and sister. She got through these challenges by remaining positive through it all. She pushed through by believing that there is light at the end of the tunnel and staying selfless no matter what she was going through. Oprah was hired as a prime-time news anchor and after the network failed, she was blamed. Although she recognized her “failures” she never gave up and let that get in the way of her success. Oprah wants to inspire others through her story and what she has accomplished and she fears confrontation from others.

My goal for the next step in my research is to read one of her books and watch videos of her speeches to gain more insight and a further understanding on who Oprah is and what she wants to do in the world. By doing so, I want to come up with a creative way of displaying her story in my learning centre.

Digital Footprint Assignment

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How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities? Give at least two examples.

Your digital footprint could either positively or negatively impact your future opportunities. If you are looking for a job, your future employer will most likely do a quick background check by looking up your name on the internet. They may choose not to hire you from finding inappropriate posts on social media, immature and disrespectful comments, or any evidence that leads them to believe you are not a good candidate for the job.

It is important to understand that everything you post, comment, like, share, or retweet stays on the internet forever. A racist tweet that you tweeted 7 years ago can be found and traced back to you. You may argue that you’ve changed from the past and the person you were 7 years ago doesn’t amount to the person you are now, but what you did in the past is still attached to your name and will be for the rest of your life. Your digital footprint is always following you and that is why it is very important to be careful of what you say and do on the internet.

There is also another side to this and that is if your future employer finds positive and respectful information connected to you on the internet, they may be more inclined to consider you as a candidate for the job. Your university or college will also review your online presence. It would be sad if you met all the aspects your dream university was looking for, but to be rejected because of something immature you commented online.

Describe at least three strategies that you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe.

A way to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe is to always think before you share. Before doing something online that could negatively impact you in the future, you should think about if what you’re going is how you want others to see you as. You want your digital footprint to positively reflect who you are as a person.

Another strategy is using privacy settings. Setting your social media accounts to private can be safer because you can view your followers, and control who sees your profile and your posts. Whether you have your privacy settings on, or your accounts are public, it is important to think about your digital footprint.

My last tip is don’t overshare. The only way to make sure to avoid negative effects from your digital footprint is don’t share things that you don’t want the whole world to know. Sadly, anything you’ve done online could be used against you and your past decisions do impact your future.

If you could go back in time, is there anything you would do differently online? Think of what type of advice you would pass on to your younger self or other students. How could you go about explaining it to them?

If I could go back in time, there isn’t anything I can think of that I would do differently. I think that what I put out online positively reflects who I am as a person and my digital footprint is safe and appropriate.

Advice I would pass on to other students is always think before you share, don’t post personal information, and use privacy settings online. To explain it and to get them to understand it, I would provide real-world examples and show that everything you put out online is traced back to you. Anything you post, like, share, or comment stays on the internet forever and that is why it’s important to take care of your digital footprint.